If you wanted to gain weight and someone promised you that you would put on a pound a day you would be delighted. However the thought of gaining a pound a day on vacation is horrifying to many of us. Christmas is bad enough! But it is that time of year and all thoughts turn to New Years Resolutions and many out there will be vowing to lose weight and get healthy.
But let’s get back to this thought of putting on a pound on day on vacation and where does this come from? I know, I can hear all you cruising people out there yelling – THE BUFFET !!! Yes. That was the mantra in the old days when you went cruising. Go for 10 days – come back 10 lbs heavier. Don’t even talk about a world cruise. Would you even be able to walk off the cruise at the end weighing an extra 120 pounds?
It’s no surprise when you think of it – back in the “good old days” of cruising there was always the midnight buffet. Who the heck needs to eat at midnight. And of course the centrepiece was always that ridiculous chocolate fountain. Chips, dip, sliders and slurpings of chocolate …. at 1 am … and then off to bed because you know you don’t want to miss the breakfast buffet. Oooo I don’t feel well.
The good news is that things have changed in the cruising world – even on the more budget ships (to put it kindly!). Cruise menus are now starting to list low calorie, low salt items and are highlighting healthy options. Even the buffet is really healthy now – lots of salads, grilled options and even low sugar ice-cream.
There’s more exercise too – more than deck quoits but you can really have a good workout with modern gym equipment, very often with a great view of the sea. (Mmm I am wondering now why I don’t make it to the gym very much when I cruise – there’s my New Year’s Resolution).
But sometimes all that “free” food can be irresistable as stories from crew will show ….
“The craziest thing I ever saw while working on a cruise ship was a passenger putting sandwiches in her bra to try to sneak them off the ship at a port (since there is a restriction that you can’t take cruise ship food into the port),” says Kerrie Mendoza, who spent two years sailing the Mediterranean, Alaska, and the Caribbean and now blogs at FamilyFoodandTravel.com. “She got stopped but just the thought of it was pretty gross!”
I am still trying to figure out how she managed to put sandwiches (plural) in her bra????
The Travel Lady's Blog 